UO moves meetings of Pacifica Forum, seen as a hate group, off campus

View full sizeDon Ryan/The Associated PressProtesters march on the University of Oregon campus last month in opposition to the Pacifica Forum, whose speakers have included Holocaust deniers.EUGENE -- A discussion group known for hosting speakers with anti-Semitic views will no longer meet on the University of Oregon's main campus.

University officials this week moved the Pacifica Forum to a Continuing Education building in downtown Eugene.

Dozens of UO students and others have staged protests at the forum's gatherings in recent months, insisting the group be removed from campus. Other students and free-speech advocates have said forum speakers should be allowed to have their say.

University officials attributed their decision to relocate Pacifica Forum as a response to decreasing attendance at recent meetings held in a too-large venue.

"This is really a matter of how we program our space," UO spokesman Phil Weiler said. "Space is really a premium."

No students belong to Pacifica Forum, which has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It gained its reputation by providing a platform to speakers who raise questions about the Holocaust.

The group's founder, Orval Etter, 94, has been able to hold Pacifica events on campus under a long-standing university policy that lets retired professors book campus space for free. Etter told The Register-Guard newspaper that he's OK with the relocation.

The university has looked at who attends forum events and determined that most do not attend the school.